This invention is a hand-held slidable card device that assists Little League and T-Ball league coaches (and assistant coaches) in the placement of players on the playing field for a ball game. It is nicknamed the Little Line-up Card.TM. or LLC.TM. game card; and its usage has been recommended by T-Ball USA, the national organization that governs T-Ball leagues.
T-Ball is the baseball equivalent for younger children, typically five to eight years of age. The basic philosophy for most T-Ball leagues is to have large teams (nine to fourteen players each), play every player in the field each inning, and try to give each player a chance to play each position or, at least, equitable playing time between the infield and outfield. This causes logistical problems for coaches because they may have more players on a team than there are normal positions (nine); and, each game is no more than six innings. A coach can overcome the limited positions issue by creating additional positions in the outfield such as left centerfield or right centerfield. The trickier problems are: keeping track of who has played where from inning to inning; and, trying to ensure that little Johnny/Jenny does not wind up playing right field three innings in a row or does not get a chance to play the infield during the entire game.
A coach cannot develop positional line-ups the night before the game or even just prior to the game because you are never sure how many or which players will show up. The only choice the coaches have is to send players out to different positions, inning by inning and with no set pattern, and to respond by the "seat of their pants" to kids saying where they played the previous innings. This becomes unfair because the kids who speak up get to play different positions, but those kids who are shy may wind up playing the same positions. The coaches can try to develop positional patterns on paper during the game, but this is extremely difficult under game conditions.
Although not every child can play every position in every game, the LLC.TM. card device ensures the best mathematical distribution of players for any given number of players. If the coach uses a new LLC.TM. card for every game, he/she can basically randomize the roster line-ups, thereby maximizing the possibility that each player will get to experience playing every position during the course of the season.
The coach can also keep track of where each child has played by keeping each game card as a record.